Wearable protective body-covering structure



June 4, 1957 M. E. BUTTERS WEARABLE PROTECTIVE BODY-COVERING STRUCTURE 3She'ets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 13. 1951 JvVE/WUK: MEL/55A Eu 87 b 4770 mm/s67501; F

June 4, 1957 M. E. BUTTERS 2,794,186

WEARABLE PROTECTIVE BODY-COVERING STRUCTURE a Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan.13 1951 ii I jVI/EA/ER: Ma ISSA 12/245,577! BU'TTfRS 87 f/GATT ENES 56$0 flweb; 475m; fbsTA'kf/imms June 4, 1957 M. E. BUTTERS WEARABLEPROTECTIVE BODY-COVERING STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 13, 19517 4 a 5 4 0 f 2 3 a I l a I 9 w/ l I 3 w m i uwh HHHHHI H uw l, A w w aa a W a ill I ink! in! m m V m 67 He A fi /vars #48845 Mac/4 fsriki/mR/f/S Flaw! United States Patent WEARABLE PROTECTIVE BODY-COVERINGSTRUCTURE Melissa Elizabeth Butters, San Marino, Caiif. ApplicationJanuary 13, 195 1, SerialzNo. 205,938 7 (fiaims. (Cl. 2-1) My inventionrelates to a wearable protective bodycovering structure which can bequickly released from a folded condition in which it is normally worn.More particularly, it relates to a wearable body-covering structurewhich can be released to cover the entire body of the wearer before orduring falling to a substantially prone position to protect the weareragainst burning from infrared or heat rays and which will also give somedegree of protection against burning by direct contact with flames.

Extremely intense radiant heat, whether from nearby flames or from anatomic explosion, may cause serious burning or death to thelightly-clothed or even a fullyclothed person, depending upon theintensity of the incident radiation. There is a distinct need for aprotective covering which can be t'rown over the body in protectiverelationship, yet it is usu" lly not feasible to carry such a protectivecovering or have such protective coverings stored near all positionswhich a person is likely to occupy in the daily routine of life. Thepresent invention relates to a foldable and wearable unit, that can beworn by the person withoutdiscomfort or inconvenience and yet which is.instantaneously available for use should the need arise.

It is an important object of the present, invention to provide aprotective body-covering structure which can be Worn in a compact,folded condition and which can be unfolded quickly.

Another object of the invention is. to provide a wearable unit includinga body-covering member secured locally to. a body-encircling member, forexample, a belt. A further object is to use a body-covering member whichis foldable into compact form; while secured to such body-encirclingmember, being, secured in, such relationship, thatthe body-encirclingmember will position the body-covering member when unfolded.

A further object is to provide a ber formed ofheat-reflect ive materialand of such size as to cover the entire body of the. wearer when in asubstantially prone position. By the term substantially prone position,I include. not only a completely prone position but also a partly-proneor crouching position.

If the folded body-covering member is connected to the body-encirclingmember at the back, I have found that a simple arm movement can be madeto unfold the bodycovering member to cover the entire rear portion ofthe body of the wearer before falling to. asubstantially prone position.In the present-invention this is true to such an extent that the.protective cover is released and initially positioned in protectiverelationship merely by actuating a quick-release means. The normalreaction to present or expected heat r-ays isto fall to a prone positionwith the face downward and 'th the face tuckedbetween the arms or hands.In my invention the protective cover structure can be released and movedto a protective position preparatory to or as apart, of this falling toa sub stantially prone posit-ion.

body-covering menu.

2,794,186 Patented June 4, 1957 Another object of the invention is toprovide a cover structure which is secured only locally to a bodyencircling member to leave side portions and end portions beyond thepoint of local connection and which are of suflicient area to cover allexposed portions of a per'son in a substantially proneposition. Afurther object of the invention is to provide a wearable protectivebody-covering structure which unfolds naturally into body-coveringposition preparatory to or during falling to a substantially proneposition.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel forms. ofquick-release means for releasing a folded bodycovering structure.Another object. i'sito provide. an automatic release for such a meanswhich. comes into operation when graspable portions of the coverstructure are grasped by the hands preparatory to unfolding. A furtherobject of the invention is to provide a wearable bodycovering structurein which the release and the unfolding of the body-covering member areeffected by a. single, simple, manual operation.

Further objects of the invention lie in the manner .of folding abody-covering member relative to. a connected body-encircling member orattachment member. Other objects lie in. the particular forms ofquick-release means for the folded body-covering member andsuggestedfi'n this application.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a body-coveringmember connected to a body-encircling member and having upper andlowerend portions respectively of such length as to cover the upper and lowerportions. of the body when in a substantially prone position.- Anotherobject is to provide such a structure in which, the upper end portion isof such length as. to encompass the exposed portions of the head of thewearer in a substanr tially prone position. .A further object is toWeight .cer! tain portions of the body-covering member, particularly atthe edges and especially in the lower. end portion, so. that thebody-covering member will be in contact, with the ground or floor atpositions around the substantially prone wearer.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will, be evident fromthe following description of, exemplary em.- bodiments, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings- 1 Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of. the invene tion spread on aflat surface preparatory to folding;

Fig. 2 is a similar plan view showing one. side portion folded;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing both side portions folded;

Fig. 4 shows the lower end portion folded and suggests the fold linesfor the upper end portion;

Fig. 5 is. an elevational, view of this embodiment of the invention whencompletely folded and retained in folded form by the quick-releasemeans;

Figs. 6, 7!, and 8 are diagrammatic sectional views illustrating themanner ofifolding, being taken along. corresponding lines of Figs. 3, 4and 5', respectively;

Figs. 14, and 16 illustrate modified quick-release means;

Fig. 17 illustrates a halter-type device;

Fig. 18 is a front view of the device of Fig. 17 taken the direction ofthe arrow 18 thereof;

Fig. 19 illustrates an alternative form of the device spread on a flatsurface preparatory to folding;

Fig. 20 illustrates the lower end portion in folded position andsuggests the fold lines for the upper end portion;

Fig. 21 is a perspective view of this embodiment of the invention whencompletely folded and as worn; and

Fig. 22 is a diagrammatic sectional view taken along the line 2222 ofFig. 21 illustrating the manner of folding.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1-5, this embodiment of the inventionincludes an attachment or body-encircling member 25 exemplified as abelt and including means for'connecting same to the body of the wearer.This means may include any conventional fastening means whereby the endsof the body-encircling member may be adjustably secured together, thismeans being exemplified in Figs. 1-5 as including a conventional beltbuckle 27 with a tongue 28 selectively insertable in one of a pluralityof openings 29. This body-encircling member 25 has a small,limited-area, intermediate portion 30 disposed between the ends of themembers for local connection to a body-covering member indicatedgenerally by the numeral 32.

This body-covering member 32 is preferably made of a flexible materialof high-heat reflectivity. It may be made of conventional white duckmaterial, sometimes coated to improve heat reflectivity, or it may beany other material, preferably of light color, which will give goodprotection to the wearer against intense infrared rays. In givingprotection against burns from nearby flames, this material may beflame-treated in any known way or it may contain or be made of anoninflammable material such as asbestos or mineral fibers.Conventionally, this material is in the form of a fabric, although itmay be a continuous sheet of heat-reflective and flexible plastic of thethermo-setting, thermo-plastic or other type.

. The body-covering member 32 limited-area, intermediate portion 33overlying the intermediate portion 30 of the body-encircling member,these members being secured together exclusively in such intermediateportions as by strong stitching 34 or any suitable detachable means suchas a snap or clip means which will not separate during use of the devicebut which will permit interchange of body-encircling members ofdifferent size.

If the body-encircling member 25 is a belt, as is also provides a small,

contemplated in this embodiment of the invention, the

body-covering member 32 will provide an upper end portion 36 and a lowerend portion 37 lying respectively above and below the zone of localconnection formed by the intermediate portions 30 and 33. Likewise, thebody-covering member 32 will provide side portions 38 and 39respectively on opposite sides of such zone of local connection of thebody-encircling and body-covering members. The portions 36-39,inclusive, represent unsupported portions with respect to thebody-encircling member 25. For example, any of these portions can belifted from the position shown in Fig. 1 until restrained by the weightof the body-encircling member 25.

As will be later described, the lower end portion 37 should drop fromfolded form to cover the lower portion of the wearer, this droppingtaking place when the upper end portion 36 is unfolded to be drawn overand to cover the upper portion of the body of the wearer. To facilitatesuch dropping of the lower end portion 37 into correct position, Iprefer to weight this end portion, as by sewing weights 42 at spacedintervals in a seam 43 which preferably extends completely around thebodycovering member 32. Weighting of the edges of the body-coveringmember 32 is also desirable for holding the edges in contact with theground or floor when the wearer is in a substantially prone position,suggested in Fig. 13. The weights 42 automatically serve this purpose,and it is also desirable to dispose weights 42 along the sides of theupper end portion 36 for this purpose.

The upper end portion 36 preferably provides spaced graspable meanswhich can be respectively grasped by the hands of the wearer even whenthe body-covering member is folded. Hand grips 45 and 46 are providedfor this purpose and may be formed of lengths of cloth tape with endsrespectively sewed to the corners of the upper end portion 36. The freeend of the hand grip 45 is preferably looped back upon itself to form aloop 47. The free end of the hand grip 46 similarly forms a loop 48 andextends therebeyond to form a tie portion 49 forming a part of aquick-release means comprising a releasable means 50 (Fig. 5) forholding the body-covering member, when folded, adjacent thebody-encircling member 25.

The preferred method of folding the body-covering member of Fig. l isillustrated in Figs. 2-8. The side portion 39 is initially foldedlongitudinally along fold lines 52 into the position shown in Fig. 2.The side portion 38 is likewise folded longitudinally, producing twolongitudinal roll-like elements 53 and 54 lying adjacent each other andpreferably in side-by-side relationship. Here and elsewhere in thespecification and claims the words fold, folded or folding are used in asense to include roll, rolled and rolling; also pleat, pleated andpleating. For example, it will be quite apparent that the side portion39 can be rolled loosely or relatively tightly from the edge thereofinto the position shown in Fig. 3, or that it can be pleated along thefold lines 52 without departing from the spirit of the invention. Toinsure compactness, I prefer a repeated fold or a loose roll assuggested in Figs. 3 and 6.

When in the intermediate position shown in Fig. 3, the hand grips 45 and46 preferably extend from the upper end of the unit, as suggested inFig. 3. Fig. 6 shows the preferred pattern of folding.

The roll-like elements 53 and 54 are then laterally or transverselyfolded. Preferably, the lower ends of these roll-like elements arefolded along fold lines 55 into a pack 56 of a pattern shown in Fig. 8.The unit will at this time be of a configuration shown in Fig. 4, thepack 56 preferably overlying the body-encircling member 25. The uppersections of the roll-like elements 53 and 54 are then folded along foldlines 57, starting at the extreme upper end, to form a pack 58 (Fig. 8)which preferably directly overlies the pack 56 and from the sides ofwhich the hand grips 45 and 46 extend as suggested in Fig. 5.

This is made possible by swinging the hand grips into their dotted linepositions 45 and 46' of Fig. 4 before starting this folding operation.While I prefer that the packs 56 and 58 be in superimposed positionrelative to the body-encircling member 25, it is within thecontemplation of the invention that the folds be made in any way todispose the resulting packs 56 and 58 in adjacent or closely adjacentposition.

Any suitable type of releasing means 50 may be used to releasably holdthe folded body-covering member in P position adjacent thebody-encircling member 25. This releasable means should be of thequick-release type and preferably should be operatively connected to thegraspable means formed by the hand grips 45 and 46. As shown in Figs.1-5, the releasable means 50 includes flexible holding members 60 withtheir inner ends sewed or otherwise secured to the body-encirclingmember near the intermediate portion 30 thereof. The outer ends of theseholding members respectively carry rings 61. The tie portion 49 of thehand grip 46 is passed through these rings 61 in suitable sequence andtied upon itself to form a releasable half-bow 63. Preparatory to thistying, the ring-linking loop. of the tie portion 49 is: pulled tightsoas to draw the holding members 60 snugly around the pack. The half-bow63 is of the type in which the loop is made of that part of the tieportion 49 closest to the loop 48. In other words, the tieportion 49 isso tied upon itself that a slight pull. on the loop 48 will. untic thehalf-bow 63, permitting the tie portion to slip from the rings 61 andrelease them. The normal tension in the holding members 60 will draw therings away from each other as soon as the bow is untied, thus completelyreleasing the pack.

It will be recognized that any outward. pull on the hand grips 45 and 46will start to unfold the pack58 from. an inner portion thereof. At thesame time, any release or unfolding of this pack 58 will release thepack 56. which will tend to drop and unfold. The sideward unfolding ofthe upper end portion 36 due to a sideward pulling, of the hand grips 45and 46 will. cause the entire body-covering member to unfold.

The unit thus far described is normally worn about the waist, with thepack at the small of the back, as suggested in Fig. 10. In thisposition, the pack offers no impediment to normal body movement and, infact, acts as a cushion for the small of the back when the wearer isseated.

Upon the first warning of impending danger, the wearer moves both armsbackward, as suggested in Fig, 10, and grasps the loops 47 and 48. Thehands are then quickly moved outwardly and rearwardly' and theelbowsinto an intermediate position suggested in Fig. 11. This untiesthe half-bow 63 and releases thepack. The low er portion starts tounfold, as suggested in Fig. 11, and

theupper portion startsto unfoldboth laterally and Ion-- gitudinallybecause the hands: are then, rather widely spaced at a position oppositethe shoulders,,the.forearms being upright.

The pack is preferably released when the wearer is upright -or duringfalling to a substantially prone. position. In normal use the. action ofpulling on the hand grips 45 and 46 and the raising of the arms is anatural one preparatory to falling face-down on the ground or floor.Fig. 12 suggests an intermediate body position preparatory to falling ina prone position and shows the further unfolding which takes place.

32 in protective position. is of such length as tocompletely cover thehead of the wearer, andthis end portion the normal act of bending the.arms until the hands are near the head, as suggested in Fig. 13-. Asthehandsare moved toward the sides of the head, in normalface-protective relationship, the upper end portion 36 is thus drawncompletely over the head, depending upon the length of the end portion36. The hem thereof may be at about eye or nose level or even therebelowwhen drawn about thehead as suggestedin Fig. 13.

While Fig. 13 shows the wearer in a prone position, equal protectionfrom heat rays will be afforded if a semi-prone position is assumed. Forexample, if the weight of the upper portion of the body is carried onthe elbows, the handswill still be in a position to draw the upper endportion 36 over the head and arched back of the wearer. Likewise, if theknees are bent to a completely crouched position, the lower end portion37 will still cover the lower portion of the body. In all-instances, theweighted edges of the body-covering member will lie close to the ground.The action is such that this will be true even though the body-coveringmember is not weighted at its edges or if weights are used only in thelower hem to facilitate the quick unfolding of the lower end portion 37.

Fig. 14 illustrates an alternative releasable-means 50-- Here. theflexible holding me bers. 60 are.f our-in. number but are securedtothebody-encircling member 25 inparalbent- Fig. 1.3 shows th wearer inprone position with the body-coveringmernber The upper end portion 36*is drawn about the head in let relationship. Two.- oh the; members 611loop. over and down theipflck; while the other two loop; underandup thepack; Here the ringsq61 of paired adjacent members 60 are releasablylinked. Thus, the; tie portion'49 is. tied around the loops at one.side; of the pack while a corresponding tie. portion 65, connected tothe hand grip '45, ties the rings at the other side. of the packtogether. Here. each of the hand grips v and 46=is operatively connected to the releasable means 50.

In Fig. 15 only'three of the flexible holdingmembers are used, beingarranged in a substantially triangular pattern when. tied bythetieport-ion 49 which ishere connected to one of the hand grips.

Fig. 16 illustrates a modified releasable means including two of theflexible holding members '60, preferably formed as rather wide bands andwhich loop around the upper and lower ortions of the pack. In thiembodiment, ,the tie portion 49- intercenneetsthe; two rin s 61. Here,as also in Figs. 14 and 15, thetie portions are tied into half-bowswhich are easily releasable upon a slight pull of the connected handgrip. In all of' the embodiments, it is preferable that the tie portion49 be made of a smooth material so that it will not bind when beinguntied and so that it will slip freely through the rings 61.

Figs. 17 and 18 disclose an alternative embodiment in which thebody-encircling member 25 is adapted to surround the chest; beingheld inplace by shoulder straps 67. In this embodiment, the; pack is shownfolded as in Fig. 14 but the h'and grips 45 and 46 carry the loops 47and 43 at shoulder level and provide end portions and 69 which canextendfromthe shoulders downwardly and. forwardly to be adjustablytiedfi'n front of. or below the neck of the wearer. As suggested in Fig.18', these end' portions 68 and 69 may extend through a ring 6911 whichcan be raised therealon'g to any. desired position, serving bothutilitarian and decorative functions- As in. Fig. 14; the tie portions49 and respectivelyinterconnect vertically paired rings 61. Thisembodiment is particularly suited for small children. It has theadditional advantage that the loops 47 and 48- are in a readily rasp.-able position.

Figs. 19-21 illustrate a further embodiment as concerns the methods offolding and wearing, the-invention. Fig. 19 shows the body-coveringmember 32 spread outon a flat surface preparatory to folding. Thebodyencircling member 25 is shown as a belt having a plurality of hooks70v at one end adapted to be inserted inopenings 71 at the other end.Several series ofopenings. 71 are provided to permit adjustment.Additionally, the body-encircling member 25 shown has included twoflattened or oblong rings 72v and 73 which can slide freely therealong.

In this embodiment, the lower end portion 37 is folded laterally alongfold lines 74', starting with the extreme end, to produce a roll-likeelement 75 of a pattern sug; gested inFig. 22. The upper end portion 36is then folded along lateral fold lines. 76, keeping the hand grips 45and 46 exposed, to, form a roll-like element 77. The. roll-like elements75 and 77 will lie adjacent the bodyencircling member 25 and preferablyin. superimposed position relative to each other.

When the body-encircling member 25 is fastened around the waist of thewearer, the roll-like elements 75 and 77 will assume positions shown inFig. 21 with their ends facing each other. The flattened or elongatedrings 72 and 73 may be moved toward each other and then away from eachother after the respective ends of the roll-like elements have beenplaced therein. The

' hand grips 45 and 46 are laced through the rings 73 and the; rings 72vand 73. will, be: displaced toward: each other,v

either sliding along the body-encircling member or pivoting relativethereto, to release the ends of the roll-like elements 75 and 77. If thehand grips 45 and 46 are pulled slidewardly and away from each other,the ends of the roll-like elements 75 and 77 will be drawn from therespective. rings. In either event, the hands are moved outwardly toarch the roll-like elements around the back, the hands being thenelevated to an abovehead position. The hand grips 45 and 46 will becometwisted during the unfolding of the upper end portion 36, depending uponthe number of folds, but the flexible material of which they are madewill permit this twisting.

With this embodiment, as with those heretofore described, other methodsof folding the body-covering member may be employed. The embodiment ofFigs. 19-21 may, for example, be folded pleat-like starting near thebody-encircling member, and the term rolllike element" includes thedevice when thus folded.

In the embodiment of Figs. 19-21, it is usually pref erable that theroll-like element 77 formed of the upper end portion 36 should overliethe roll-like element 75 which when released forms the lower end portion37; With the described differences, this embodiment can be very similarto that shown in Fig. 1 except that the tie portion 49 need not be used.The rings 72 and 73 function as the releasable means and are operativelyconnected to the hand grips so that a single motion effects the releaseand starts the unfolding operation.

Other embodiments of the invention will be suggested to those skilled inthe art from the examples herein given. Thus it will be recognized thatvarious methods of folding can be employed and that the hand grips 45and 46 may be of various forms and disposed in various positionsconvenient to grasping. The size of the various members may be adaptedto the' size of the wearer but this is not critical. If, for example,the body-covering member 32 is made sufficiently large to cover thebodyof a large adult, it will equally well cover the body of a smallerperson. Generally, however, the length of the upper end portion 36 isdesirably adjusted to the size of the wearer if it is desired that thisend portion be drawn snugly about the head when in a prone position.

Various changes and modifications can be made without departing from thespirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

.1. In a wearable protective cover structure which can be quicklyreleased from folded position to cover the body of the wearer in the actof falling to a snbstantially prone position to protect the weareragainst intense radiation, the combination of: a belt having a smallintermediate portion at the back of the wearer; a body-covering memberformed of foldable heat-reflective material and providing a smallintermediate portion between the sides thereof and between the endsthereof, the latter intermediate portion overlying the intermediateportion of said belt; means for connecting said body-covering member tosaid belt exclusively in said overlying portion, said last-named meansincluding connection means for connecting said intermediate portionstogether to provide end portions of said body-covering member free ofpermanent connection to said belt and respectively of a length to coverthe upper and lower portions of the body of the wearer, said endportions being respectively folded into compact folded portions adjacenteach other and adjacent said belt; a plurality of flexible memberssecured to said elt, and providing end portions, each flexible member atleast partially encompassing said folded portions; and releasable meansfor connecting and simultaneously releasing said end portions of saidflexible member 2. A wearable protective cover structure as defined inclaim 1 in which one of said end portions of said bodycovering memberprovides spaced graspable means, said one end portion being folded toexpose said graspable means for respective grasping by the hands of thewearer to pull said one portion over the head of the wearer, at leastone of said graspable means being operatively connected to saidreleasable connecting means.

3. A wearable protective cover structure for covering the body of thewearer against nuclear heat radiation preparatory to falling to and whenin a substantially prone position, said Wearable protective coverstructure including: a body-encircling member providing a smallintermediate portion at the back of the wearer; a body-covering memberof heat-reflective material providing a small intermediate portionconnected to said portion of said body-encircling member and forming thesole such con nection between said members, said body-covering mem berproviding otherwise unattached side portions on each side of suchconnection free of connection to said bodyencircling member, said sideportions being repeatedly folded from the sides toward such connectionto form two longitudinal roll-like elements positioned adjacent eachother, the ends of said roll-like elements being repeatedly foldedtoward said connection to provide adjacent folded packs near suchconnection; and quick-release means attached to said body-encirclingmember and at least partially encircling said folded packs for quicklyreleasing same to permit unfolding of said packs and said longitudinalroll-like elements, one portion of said body-covering member providinggraspabie means secured thereto and extending from an interior portionof the corresponding folded pack for unfolding and drawing such oneportion over the head of the wearer.

4. In a wearable protective cover structure for covering the body of thewearer and protecting against nuclear heat radiation, the combination ofa body-encircling member; a light-colored body-covering member connectedexclusively locally to a portion of said body-encircling memher andproviding end portions respectively beyond the point of local connectionand free of connection to said body-encircling member, said end portionsbeing of sufficient area to cover the wearer from head to foot when thewearer is in substantially prone position, one of said end portionsincluding two hand grips, said end portions being respectively foldedinto adjacent folded portions lying adjacent and outside saidbody-encircling member, said hand grips protruding from the resultingfolded portion for respective gripping by the hands of the wearer tounfold and pull said one of said end portions over the head of thewearer; releasable means for holding said folded portions adjacent andoutside said body-encircling member; and means for operativelyconnecting at least one of said hand grips and said releasable means torelease the latter upon pulling of the former.

5. In a wearable protective cover structure which can be quicklyreleased from folded positionto cover the body of the wearer preparatoryto falling to and when in a substantially prone position to protect thewearer against intense heat radiation, the combination of: a belt havinga small intermediate portion at the back of the wearer; a body-coveringmember formed of foldahle heat-reflective material and providing a smallintermediate portion between the sides thereof and between the endsthereof; means for connecting said intermediate portions together, saidmeans forming the exclusive connection between said belt and said memberto provide otherwise-unattached end portions of said body-coveringmember respectively of a length to cover the upper and lower portions ofthe body of the wearer, said end portions being respectively foldedlaterally from the outer ends thereof toward said intermediate portioninto two roll-like elements immedi ately adjacent each other at theperiphery of said belt, said roll-like elements conforming to thecontour of the belt when worn by the wearer so that the ends of theroll-like elements are positioned to the front of the wearer, one endportion of said body-covering member including two graspable meansprotruding from the corresponding roll-like element and adapted to begrasped by the hands of the wear to pull said end portion over the headof the wearer; and quick-release means for connecting said ends of saidroll-like elements to said belt, at least one of said graspable meansbeing operatively connected to said quick-release means to release saidends of said roll-likc elements upon pulling of such graspable means.

6. A wearable protective cover structure for covering the body of thewearer against nuclear heat radiation preparatory to falling to and whenin a substantially prone position, said wearable protective coverstructure including: a body-encircling member providing a smallintermediate portion at the back of the wearer; a body-covering memberformed of heat-reflective material providing a small intermediateportion connected to said portion of said body-encircling member andforming the sole connection between said members, said body-coveringmemer providing otherwise-unattached side portions on each side of suchconnection and providing otherwise-unattached end portions on oppositeends of such connection, each of said end portions being foldedlaterally to form rol-like elements paralleling the periphery of saidbodyencircling member and lying immediately adjacent each other;quick-release means for releasably connecting the ends of said roll-likeelements to said body-encircling member; and graspable means secured tothe corners of one of said end portions of said body-covering member andprotruding from the ends of the corresponding rolllike elements to begrasped by the respective hands of the wearer to unfold said one endportion and draw same over the head of the wearer, said graspable meansbeing operatively connected to said quick-release means to releaseautomatically said ends of said roll-like element when said graspablemeans are grasped by the hands of the wearer preparatory to pulling saidone end portion of said body-covering member over the head of thewearer.

7. A wearable protective cover structure for covering and protecting thebody of the wearer against nuclear heat rays when in substantially proneposition and quickly releasable from its Worn position at a time nolatter than during falling to such substantially prone position, saidcover structure comprising: a body-encircling member providing alimited-area portion between its ends; a folded body-covering member ofheat-reflective material having a small intermediate zone overlying saidlimitedarea portion of said body-encircling member, said bodycoveringmember being of sufiicient size to cover the wearer completely when insaid substantially prone position and to provide ground-engaging edgeportions engaging the ground around the wearer when in suchsubstantially prone position; means for securing said bodycoveringmember to said body-encircling member exclusively in such overlying zonewhereby said body-covering member provides upper and lower end portionsand side portions which together peripherally surround the zone ofattachment of said body-covering member to said body-encircling memberand which individually are free of any permanent connection with thelatter except in the overlying zone, said upper and lower end portionsbeing folded into an area adjacent said body-encircling member; agraspable means and means for securing same to said upper end portion toaid in drawing the latter toward head-covering position; a quick-releasemeans holding said folded portions in said area adjacent saidbody-encircling member; and means for operatively connecting saidgraspable means to said quick-release means, a single movement of saidgraspable means actuating said quickrelease means and drawing the upperend portion toward said head-covering position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS523,177 Rice July 17, 1894 1,022,462 Brink Apr. 9, 1912 1,346,320 LawJuly 13, 1920 1,793,737 Estes Feb. 24, 1931 2,139,579 Dier Dec. 6, 19382,344,010 Walsh Mar. 14, 1944 2,404,225 Green July 16, 1946 2,420,344Alexander May 13, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 414,220 France June 14, 1910

